


Children of the Sea

by IllyasJames



Series: For you my Sea [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Fairy Tale Retellings, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Seahorse elements, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 01:46:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12223233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllyasJames/pseuds/IllyasJames
Summary: Yuuri is put in an awkward situation when he finds himself responding to Victor in ways he never thought he could.Minako tries to help her protege best she can, and might be overstepping the rules just to give him a chance on happiness.





	Children of the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Day 241 of my 365FF Challenge
> 
> Second story in this new series. I love how it is coming along.  
> And just so one knows, yes among Yuuri's people the men are the ones that carry. So Takeshi was pregnant with the triplets.  
> Also as stated earlier, the merpeople don't speak. They use the fins on there body to vibrate the water to say what they mean. So when they are speaking, imagine them picking up each others vibrations instead of voices. :}
> 
> As always I sent you off to enjoy the work by reminding that [ my tumblr ](http://the-world-of-illyas-james.tumblr.com/) is always available if you feel the need to sent me an ask or start a conversation over messages.  
> Seriously. I love receiving them. And I do my best to always answer. :}
> 
> Small service announcement;  
> A more pressing issue, however, is Update Demands. I've gotten a couple of comments about this and, please, I am begging you, don't do the thing. I know you're excited; hell, I'm excited about seeing the next chapter/sequel too, I love the enthusiasm you guys have! However, I am also a person who suffers from anxiety and that makes it hard to write, especially when I feel like I'm being pressured. I will get blocked and there will be no updates if this happens. Not because I'm being mean, but I genuinely just don't handle it well.  
> So please respect me, and try your best to not come of as rude in your enthusiasm.  
> Thank you. :}

It started almost the moment Yuuri threw himself back into the sea when the dog showed up. Recognizing the signals he left to go to Minako's cave as fast as he could, only making one quick glance over his shoulder to make certain Victor was safe. He knew he had to hurry though as the signs were clear that he was running out of time. This had never happened so fast, but he had to get to Minako's before anyone else notices and reports it to Mari. 

Minako looks up from her seagrass when Yuuri bursts through the kelp curtain keeping her cave secluded. She wants to point him out that he was rude and she could've been attending to somebodies potion, but she stops when she smells the slight tangy in the waters around Yuuri and sees his hand pushed down to his pouch. Knowing how he doesn't want people to know about him actually being ready to be mated she ushers him deeper into her cave and out of public sight. She bundles him up and goes around to get the things she needs for the dressing that will make the swelling go down. 

Yuuri curls into himself in the small alcove that has become his salvation over the past few years, ever since his body first started to show the signs that he was ready to be mated. He knows people are starting to talk about the fact that the prince is so very late to become ready especially as his parents had gotten his sister when they were nineteen, and Takeshi had been eighteen. But he knew that they had been emotionally ready, together with a mate they wanted offspring with, Yuuri is neither of those things. All he is, is scared that he will be forced into a mating and end up ruining the child. 

When Minako returns he takes the dressing and presses it against the pouch. He feels Minako cover his body with cold kelp to make his body go down in temperature, he is glad about that. A raised temperature spreads scents through the water faster and he really can't have anyone sniff him out. His body starts to tremble when the thoughts start flooding. He has seen forced matings, he knows that they are done. Even if he knows his family would never make him go through that, the thought they would pressure him in choosing a mate is enough to make the tears start flowing. 

It takes some time before the greatest swelling subsides and his mind starts to calm down enough to become coherent enough to let him fall asleep. After all he had been doing a lot of swimming the night before and he was definitely feeling it. Minako checks on him a couple of times, making certain to keep his body cool and changing the dressing twice before he wakes up again. His body wrecked from the strain on it, tired but not sleepy, and thirsty. Minako gives him a something to drink to help with the latter. He recognizes the taste as the potions that help him keep his body under control. He returns the vial to her and rolls back on his side letting himself move to a more relaxing position. The swirl of bubbles from his sigh mess up some of the kelp laying on top of him, but he knows Minako will straighten it out.

He can feel her wanting to talk to him about something as she's vibrating a low humming sound through the waters. He sighs again, making a movement with his hand to let her know it's okay to ask while also making clear he might not have the energy to answer.

"Honestly Yuuri. I'm surprised to see you so soon. I had not expected to see you for some time now. Can you tell me what happened for your body to prepare for mating so much earlier than normal." She sees his shoulders slump. 

"Swam a lot. Overexerted myself." Yuuri hopes that she will take the hint he doesn't really want to talk about it. Poorly the hum she sends out makes it clear she is not going to let it rest. 

"That could be it if you were like within days from a normal mating cycle. This was a reactionary one. And that means your body responded on something." 

Yuuri feels his head fins swell up and change color. he hates it that they always give him away. Minako sits down on the edge of the alcove he's in he can feel her excitement, knowing she won't feel this happy when she hears what happened. 

"Yuuri. This means you met your mate." he shakes his head vigorously "Don't give me that." There is a small pause "Unless she's already mated. That could be an issue, even though you as prince would have a bigger claim on her. I just can't see you ever make such a thing. Is that it?" 

Yuuri shakes his head. "Not mated." 

"Well that's good." Minako starts humming again. "Is she of a different clan? You did say you swam a lot, did you come across a different clan or even a lone swimmer?" 

Yuuri shakes his head. "Not a her." He feels Minako still from that reveal.

"You had this response to a male?" Yuuri shrinks into himself a bit. "Oh hunny. You know you can't mate with a male member of our clan. That doesn't work." She puts a hand over his giving it a soft squeeze. He sighs, seems he'll have to be more clear.

"Not one of our kind." 

It stays silent for some time. Yuuri feels Minako shift and when he opens an eye she is hanging over him a bit to see his face clearer. This causes him to flush in his face and pull his hands over it to hide it happening. 

"Are you telling me you had this response to a being other than our kind." Minako's message vibrates around him as if she is in doubt she understood him correctly. He nods. "What ever could make you respond like this. I know you have no affinity with sharks, and all the seals have migrated out of the area for the season. There are no reports for any squids that I heard of, and there is no way you could have come in contact with a land dweller." 

Yuuri let's out a vibrant hum at that last remark and he knows his body vibrates his need. Minako stills, turns to him and pulls his hands away from his face, forcing him to look at her. He can tell exactly when the truth hits her.

"Oh!!! Oh my. Yuuri." She lets out a sad sigh. "Although there have been cases of our kind mating with land dwellers those pairings never ended up well for either party. Please tell me this was just a random encounter, one we can deal with." Yuuri bites his bottom lip and casts his eyes away from her stare. "Yuuri. How long have you been seeing this dweller?" 

Yuuri feels his body shiver. "nine years. We first spotted him when Yuuko had snuck us out for my twelved birthday." Minako grasps his hands.

"Are you telling me you've let a dweller known of our existence for nearly ten years." Yuuri shakes his head.

"No!! No! No. Till this morning he never knew I was there, and he was so out of it I don't think he even realized what I was. Or that I was there even." His lips tremble, his hands shake, and he feels his body shiver. "He might not even remember me at all." He lets out a deep sigh.

Minako let's him go from her grip, letting him curl up into himself again. "I see. I'll get more potion. Then you can tell me everything." He knows that last part is not a request. 

It takes him two days to fully recover. He knows Minako let his parents and sister know that he was staying with her, there general story is that he assists her with elaborate potions. This story also helps keeping people out of the cave, nobody wants to burden the consequence of messing up Minako's work. After he's recovered he tells her everything, from the first sighting, the times he watched him stand in the water, to the events that had let to his body responding as it had done. Minako simply listens, sometimes with a concerned look on her face but she just listens. After he's done she asks him to refrain from visiting the beach for a while. Telling him his body might respond more violently, giving him no time to reach her cave. Yuuri promises he won't and goes home to help his family.

Weeks pass. Weeks in which his body sometimes betrays him and starts buzzing. Every time when he feels it happening he flees to Minako, who grows more concerned by the day. She asks him if he had left even one detail out, at which he finally admits to having locked his lips around Victor's sharing some of his fluids. Minako pulls him against her chest after that and tells him to come back in three days, she might have a solution.

When he swims back to her place, after ditching a fight practice with his sister, he is unaware that he is being followed by his sister and two of the guards under her command. He enters Minako's cave like he always does and is shocked to find it in disarray. Minako looks almost as if she herself had not slept since he last had seen her, holding a small vial sealed with some clay. 

"Yuuri. I might have found the solution to your body trying to prepare for mating. But if you take this option there are rules you have to uphold." He takes the vial from her hand. if there is a solution how could she ever think of him not taking it. "First this potion has to be taken in shallow water or even completely out of it. The old text wasn't very clear about it." He looks at her in amazement. "Second..." 

The kelp curtain gets pulled away with force. Both are shocked to see Mari's trembling form, she is clearly livid.

"Minako Sensei!!. How could you!. You know it is against our laws to prevent the mating cycles from commencing. Our clan is already small, our numbers depleting. We need every available man to do his job to help us strengthen our ranks!" Her eyes move to Yuuri. "Hand over that vial brother. It seems we will have to make you take a mate, although I had wished it to be otherwise." 

Yuuri clenches the vial to his chest. No. Minako said this was his solution. He feels his breathing speed up and knows he's causing a small mist off bubbles to form around his body. Mari moves forward to pull the vial from his hands but he had always been faster than her and he dodges her. Minako tries to reason with Mari, telling her she got it wrong, that she was helping Yuuri come to terms with his body becoming ready to mate. His sister is not listening, soon he is dodging her in every corner of the cave. Crashing into things as he can't use his hands that he still has wrapped around the vial. At one point he goes around her and manages to get out of the cave, only to be greeted with the two guards. 

"Stop my brother, and take that vial from him." Mari's voice rings with all the control she has as the Crown heir, neither of the guards even consider not following.

Yuuri knows that between two guards and his sister there is no way for him to get away. So he does the only thing he can think of. He breaks the clay sealing, puts the vial to his lips, and drinks the content. The reaction comes immediately. 

Once when he was a kid he had swum too close to the cold waters in the Ice period and his scales had been cut by the small shards floating in the water. Now, he is feeling that same pain again. Except this time, it's from the inside. 

"Yuuri, No!!" Minako's call goes unheard by anyone but Mari. She turns to Yuuri's sister. "You have to get him to the surface." She reaches out to the heir, who smacks her hands away.

"Give me one reason why I should do that what a traitor to our laws tells me to do." Her eyes travel to Yuuri, who is convulsing into himself, his mouth open in a silent scream. Vibrating pure pain through the waters for them all to feel. "Undo what you did and I might be lenient on you." 

"Mari. If you do not get him into shallow waters soon he is going to die." Mari's eyes grow wide in shock. "His body has been trying to prepare to mate with a landdweller. The only cure for that is to be rejected by that dweller. And that is only possible if he's near them." 

She can see that her words are almost too much for the heir. 

"Mari! His scales! They are retreating!" The words of the one guard runs shriek through the water. It takes Minako some time to realize exactly who it is. 

"Yuuko. Take him to the beach you took him for his birthday back then. The one with the silver haired boy." She looks at Mari who's eyes are fixed on her brother's changing form. "But do it now before his gills have completely retracted or he will die in our waters." 

Yuuko throws of most of her gear knowing they would only slow her down, and without waiting for Mari to agree with the order she hooks her arm around Yuuri's waist and speeds off with him. Hoping she is in time. 

The last thing Yuuri sees is the blurry form of his sister being pulled into a hug by Minako. He hopes they can forgive him. After that he opens his mouth to gasp not realizing that his gills have shrunk so far that the water coming in isn't all pushed out anymore. His body revolts against it causing him to black out. 

The next thing he remembers is being drooled on. His body burns every time he takes bites of air, not knowing how to properly breath the air all around him. When he opens his eyes he is greeted with a very close and personal sight on a dog he has only ever seen from afar. That sight gets quickly replaced by one he had longed for to see even more badly than he had known. Blue eyes look at him concerned.

Victor went down the beach, for the first time since the dramatic events of his birthday and the subsequent illness he had suffered. His father had not been angry, the man had been livid. Seething even. Victor had found every single one of his privileges stripped, even the right to walk his own dog had not been returned to him till this morning and not till he had promised his father to seriously look for a wife. Mostly he had just given in as he could not imagine being married could be any more boring than the way his life had been for these past few weeks. 

So when Makka suddenly started barking as a maddog and sped off to the beach he had said he was going to stay away from, he had just enough mind to call to one of the guards to get Georgi as he needed to get his dog back and needed the steward to vouch for him. After all, his dog was probably just used to them going there to play and did not know better to know they could not do it. So finding a naked man lying on the same spot he had been found was a bit of a shock. His dog being all over the man even more so, Makka wasn't half as people friendly as one would think. They had very good people skills, never liked a person that would do Victor harm. 

He ran to the man Pulling of his cloak while doing so, as it was too cold to be out in the open like that. Makka whines a bit when he pushes them aside, leaving him with a perfect view of the man's brown eyes. His concern for the man's well being gets pushed aside for the briefest of moment thinking he recognizes those eyes from someplace. maybe a servant to one of the many dignitaries that have visited the palace in the past few weeks. After all, there had been plenty. But he knows that he would have remembered a man as striking as this one.

Victor pulls the man up onto his feet, only to have him buckle down in apparent pain. Not knowing what else to do he wraps his cloak around the shorter man and lifts him in his arms. Feeling a very warm buzz go under his skin when the man wraps his arms around his neck, letting out a soft sigh. That is how he carries the man up the stairs, meeting Georgi halfway. He tells his steward to run back to the palace, inform the doctor they might have a medical emergency, and to tell the staff to prepare the room next to his for their guest. He ignores the look on Georgi's face, knowing fully well that the room his order is about is meant only for his intended bride. 

Yuuri looks over Victor's shoulder while he is carried away from the beach. he can vaguely spot the shape of Yuuko bobbing quite a distance away. He lift his hand in a soft wave, letting out a soft sigh when his friend waves back before leaping into the waves and disappearing from sight.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this
> 
> All comments are greatly appreciated, even one as little as a smiley. :}


End file.
